Utilitarianism and Christian Theology
Utilitarianism is one of the most straightforward ethical theories: it simply calls for the greatest welfare for the greatest number. Despite its early links to theological reasoning, this moral view has often been sharply contrasted with the outlook of Christians. This entry presents the key featur...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology
2023-07-01
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| Series: | St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.saet.ac.uk/Christianity/UtilitarianismandChristianTheology |
| _version_ | 1797391229720199168 |
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| author | Vesa Hautala Dominic Roser |
| author_facet | Vesa Hautala Dominic Roser |
| author_sort | Vesa Hautala |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Utilitarianism is one of the most straightforward ethical theories: it simply calls for the greatest welfare for the greatest number. Despite its early links to theological reasoning, this moral view has often been sharply contrasted with the outlook of Christians. This entry presents the key features and history of utilitarianism and explores its relationship to Christian theology. Utilitarianism is famous for its radical recommendations when applied to beginning and end of life issues, animal welfare, and poverty. These are discussed and contrasted with Christian approaches. The entry ends by discussing effective altruism, a movement strongly influenced by utilitarian ideas. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T23:28:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7dbf6cad41f24fbf93223cdc2f8533da |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2753-3492 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T23:28:50Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology |
| spelling | doaj.art-7dbf6cad41f24fbf93223cdc2f8533da2023-12-14T16:28:40ZengSt Andrews Encyclopaedia of TheologySt Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology2753-34922023-07-01Utilitarianism and Christian TheologyVesa HautalaDominic Roserhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9427-105XUtilitarianism is one of the most straightforward ethical theories: it simply calls for the greatest welfare for the greatest number. Despite its early links to theological reasoning, this moral view has often been sharply contrasted with the outlook of Christians. This entry presents the key features and history of utilitarianism and explores its relationship to Christian theology. Utilitarianism is famous for its radical recommendations when applied to beginning and end of life issues, animal welfare, and poverty. These are discussed and contrasted with Christian approaches. The entry ends by discussing effective altruism, a movement strongly influenced by utilitarian ideas.https://www.saet.ac.uk/Christianity/UtilitarianismandChristianTheologyethicsmoralitywelfaregoodnessnatural lawconsequentialismbioethicseuthanasiaabortionanimalspovertyeffective altruism |
| spellingShingle | Vesa Hautala Dominic Roser Utilitarianism and Christian Theology St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology ethics morality welfare goodness natural law consequentialism bioethics euthanasia abortion animals poverty effective altruism |
| title | Utilitarianism and Christian Theology |
| title_full | Utilitarianism and Christian Theology |
| title_fullStr | Utilitarianism and Christian Theology |
| title_full_unstemmed | Utilitarianism and Christian Theology |
| title_short | Utilitarianism and Christian Theology |
| title_sort | utilitarianism and christian theology |
| topic | ethics morality welfare goodness natural law consequentialism bioethics euthanasia abortion animals poverty effective altruism |
| url | https://www.saet.ac.uk/Christianity/UtilitarianismandChristianTheology |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT vesahautala utilitarianismandchristiantheology AT dominicroser utilitarianismandchristiantheology |